Tony Blair is under fire from families of servicemen in Iraq after a Chronicle probe revealed loved ones still have to pay to send parcels to the Gulf.

He announced in the Commons this week that parcels could be sent out to troops for free. But that will only happen when hostilities cease weeks or even months from now. Furious Wendy Brown of Low Fell, whose husband Michael, pictured, is serving out in Kuwait, said: "It was totally misleading for him to say that."